The Year TripWe are on another grand family adventure. This time we are taking 10 months to circumnavigate the globe!

USA

Moving around in Europe we used the Eurail Pass. Eurail is actually a travel company with agreements with the rail companies to sell a special pass to non-EU residents, it covers the cost of the ticket not reservation cost, if a reservation is necessary.... Read more >

We had a very short stay in Stockholm, because we had decided to go and see the Northern Lights. Since we had such good luck with hostels we found one in Stockholm, plus Sweden was expensive and hostels were by far the cheapest method. Anyways, ... Read more >

We arrived by bus from Kiruna. Upon checking in, we headed to our guestroom, we stayed in a warm room, and rested for a short while before taking a look at the ice rooms. Wow! I think the girls liked the ice hotel a little more than they expected. We ... Read more >

We had several reasons for staying in Kiruna. First, it was close to the famous Ice Hotel. Second, it is a town that will be moved, because it is sinking from mining. Third, it is a popular place to see the northern lights. Finally, ... Read more >

We are very happy we selected Abisko. It was an awesome stop. The Northern Lights have been on mine and Chris’s bucket list for a long time, so we decided this was the place we could give it a go. Let’s start out with the bad news, ... Read more >

Arriving in Sweden our planned stop was in Jonkoping, Sweden. Chris’s family hosted our host about 20 years ago as a foreign exchange student, Maria. I had also met Maria once at Chris’s sister’s wedding. Maria was ... Read more >

Our ride to Copenhagen was another first for us. It started out with a broken train engine, it would only go in one direction and it happened to be the wrong direction. It took nearly 2-hours, but we did a giant turn around somehow. ... Read more >

I have always wanted to visit Germany, especially Munich and Berlin. Berlin was everything I expected and I would love to go back again. I have always remembered watching the TV coverages of the Berlin Wall coming down. There is so much history in the ... Read more >

As part of our visit to Poland we took an overnight trip to Krakow to visit Auschwitz. We debated if we should go, Elizabeth and I wanted to, but we weren’t sure about taking the girls. We went back and forth if the girls were too young.... Read more >

The ride into Warsaw was our first overnight train. The girls were really excited, as were we. Most of the train rides have been 3-6 hours during the day. The lead up to Warsaw was almost entirely about the train ride and nothing about ... Read more >

Since we arrived in Europe we have been traveling on trains with our Europass. The ride to Prague required us to change from the train to a bus, it was still covered with the Europass. We rode a double decker bus from Germany to Prague. We were ... Read more >

We were worn out when we arrived in Brussels. We really did a lot of walking in London. When we got off the train and I announced to the girls we only have a 1.4 km walk with our backpacks I thought we had a munity on our hands. When ... Read more >

In our original plan London did not make the list, it was just out of the way. However, Elizabeth really wanted to visit Stonehenge, so London was added back to the list. Our new friends we met in Madrid recommended us to visit the Sky Garden, ... Read more >

As soon as we arrive to a new destination we almost always head to our accommodations by either walking, bus, subway, or tram. In Paris, we went by subway. It was very crowded and we were up against each other on both subway lines we had to take. It ... Read more >

Ahh, OKTOBERFEST! We finally made it and little did we know actually how big it was. It is not just a beer fest, it is an entire carnival with all kinds of rides for the kids. It is by far the largest carnival either Chris or I have ... Read more >

Stefan was friend we had met year back when we lived in Arizona. He lived in an apartment in the same complex and we spent a lot of time hanging out at the pool together. Several years back he moved back to Austria. When we planned the trip, I coordinated ... Read more >

Chris made an arrangement mistake. He scheduled out train stop one stop too early. When we thought we got to Venice we got off the train and brought up directions to our hotel. The hotel was still a long way away, not so far but across ... Read more >

We are getting very good at the trains! I think we have it down now, in fact we are starting to help others find their train and cart! With that said Rome started off with a rough start. We did not exit at the main train station; our ... Read more >

There is so much to see and do in Florence! There is the Michelangelo statue of David, the museum with replicated inventions from Leonardo da Vinci, the Leaning Tower of Pisa just a train ride away, beautiful scenery, Tuscany, and atmosphere. We ... Read more >

We arrived at the train station and headed to our Airbnb to meet up with our very friendly hosts. They let us in and gave us some suggestions on where to eat and visit during our short stay. After getting settled into the room, we headed to the Duomo ... Read more >

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